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The court heard he then repeated the abuse when he called the victim and laughed out loud down the phone.

The victim then tested positive for HIV which showed he had a strain of the virus similar to that suffered by Rowe.

One victim, who was sexually inexperienced, only found out he had HIV when he began to feel feverish and ill.

Another had sex with Rowe but insisted he wear a condom only later to discover the condom in the bathroom sink with the end of ripped off.

Miss Carberry said: 'He was extremely concerned and upset about this and repeatedly asked Daryll Rowe whether he was clean which he said he was. That condom did not split accidentally.'

The court heard that days after having sex with a number of men Rowe goaded them by telling them he had HIV

The court heard that an HIV-positive person is receiving retroviral treatment it makes it much more difficult for someone to pass on the HIV virus during sex.

Rowe had stopped taking retroviral drugs and also suffered herpes, which increases the chance of infection, the jury was told.

Ms Carberry QC told the jury Daryll Rowe met eight men in Sussex and two more in the north east.

Rowe's tenth victim, in whose house he was staying when he arrested in Newcastle in December last year, gave police a bag which contained his belongings including a box of ripped condoms.

'The condoms were in wrappers and the wrappers had already been opened,' she explained.

'The condoms inside had been sabotaged.

'The nipple end was missing, the the condoms had been fully broken, pushed back inside their wrappers and back into the box.

'If the aim of a condom is to prevent semen entering the anus or vagina during intercourse, thereby providing reassurance the other party is safe, the only reason a pre-ripped condom is used is to coerce another into having unprotected sexual intercourse.'

Sussex Police were contacted in February 2016 and had diagnosed two men as HIV positive who had described having intercourse with a man with a Scottish accent.

Rowe declined anti-retroviral treatment in Edinburgh and was advised he was more infectious if he failed to take the treatment

Rowe was arrested and in an interview with officers he claimed he was not HIV positive and had not met with or had sex with the two men, who had up until then complained.

He was bailed to an address in Berwick, Northumberland and by the time of the second interview a number of other alleged victims had come forward.

Rowe was bailed again but he went missing and a manhunt was launched to track him down and he was eventually arrested in Wallsend where he was using a false name.